Visit THN.com/free for a free issue with an annual subscription. Rob Ray and Rick Jeanneret announce a Nov. 12, 2013, game between the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings from between the team benches. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwMTczOTQ3MzMxODE0NTA4/usatsi_7556500.jpg] Rob Ray and Rick Jeanneret announce a Nov. 12, 2013, game between the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings from between the team benches. On Thursday, one of the greatest play-by-play voices in history passed away. It is rare that a local broadcaster becomes known coast to coast. It is not a stretch to say that Rick Jeanneret could have been a national broadcasting star if he wanted to be. Here’s the thing, though: he wasn’t a star – he is an icon. Growing up in Toronto, there are three play-by-play men synonymous with my childhood: Bob Cole, Joe Bowen and Rick Jeanneret. Each one is different, but growing up a Leafs fan, my father and I used to tune into Sabres games simply to hear Rick Jeanneret. I was a Blue and White kid, but I wanted the Sabres to win in overtime every night because it meant we got an iconic call from RJ. If that’s how a young Toronto kid felt, you can only imagine how every kid in Buffalo felt. My favorite thing about great commentators is how they weave words from everyday life to describe what goes on in a game, which often leads to signature calls. This isn’t a top 10 RJ calls list. Truthfully, that is something only a diehard Sabres fan can make. Someone who lives and dies by the Sabre, the way Rick did. There is an argument to be made that Rick Jeanneret is the great Buffalo Sabre of all-time. Here are 10 of my favorite RJ signatures, and let me say: it was really hard to pick only 10. MAY DAY This one is my favorite. I will admit that I am friends with Brad’s son, and we joke about it every time we see each other. “May Day” is one of the most iconic calls in hockey and certainly the most memorable goal in Sabres history. An overtime-winner against the Boston Bruins before I was born. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYqzx68cuJ0[/embed] Brad May was not a scorer the way other legendary Sabres were. He hadn’t scored in more than two months leading up to that fateful night. In fact, that playoff year, Brad May had one goal. One. But it was that one. If you say “May Day” in the general public, people panic because it is an international term to express emergency distress over radio communications. If you say it in a hockey rink or anywhere in Buffalo, you’ll see smiling and goosebumps. ROLL THE HIGHLIGHT FILM Every top-10 Sabres goal compilation has some iteration of “roll the highlight film.” Maxim Afinogenov turning himself into a pretzel at the net front [https://youtu.be/7jgC_HleLAc] is one that comes to mind immediately. It has been used for everyone from Tage Thompson to Stu Barnes. Whether it was a slick move in open ice, a fantastic save by Hasek or a goal that would end up on Sportscenter top-10s, this was a signature that told you to pay attention to the replay. TOP SHELF, WHERE MAMA HIDES THE COOKIES! Michael Peca and Danny Briere can tell you all about this call. This was a Rick Jeanneret staple, and as a Leafs fan growing up, I heard it more than I wanted to. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF48VxULU8A[/embed] A one-timer to the top shelf, a wrister from the slot or potting the puck off a juicy rebound would elicit this famous play on words from the icon. It became so usable that you would hear it when kids played road hockey in the streets. You go top shelf? Well, that’s where Mama hides the cookies. That call has found its way into many other broadcasts because of its fun nature and ease of use. Every time you hear it used, you can think of the man who made it famous. POPULATION OF POMINVILLE Maybe it’s because I was a child learning about geography? Maybe I liked Jason Pominville? Or maybe, it was because Jason Pominville always seemed to score when I watched the Sabres play, and RJ would pull that out of his hat [https://youtu.be/ZghnOUIMftI]. It became so famous in Buffalo that when I went to my first Sabres game, I noticed a banner hanging in the upper deck of the Sabres rink behind the fans that read, “Welcome to Pominville.” As a kid, it was a fun quirk about the Sabres rink. Every time Pominville would score, I would remember how much fun I had at the game under the sign, and “the population of Pominville goes up by one more” call by RJ was the exclamation point. OOOOOOOOOOVERTIME Almost every hockey commentator has used the extended version of the word "overtime" when a goal is scored, especially by their local team. No one added the amount of O’s that Jeanneret did. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu7X0NaZ5Gg[/embed] When Casey Mittlestadt scored the overtime-winner in RJ’s final game, that call lasted forever. When May scored his famous goal, "ooooooovertime" was in there, too. Heck, when Chris Drury tied the game up with seven seconds left to send it to the extra frame, RJ made sure that everyone knew the overtime was coming up. I wanted the Buffalo Sabres to win every game in overtime because it would mean a signature call, and maybe, we’d get some extra pizzazz on top for the player who scored. I hope that whenever the Sabres win in overtime at home, the PA plays a recorded goal of “the Buffalo Sabres win it in oooooooooooovertiiiiime.” LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LAFONTAINE There are so many iterations of this call; thank you to Pat LaFontaine for scoring so much! If you YouTube Pat LaFontaine goals, the first page is him scoring with some iteration of this iconic call. Watch the Sabres tribute video [https://youtu.be/hJnhX35cbDo], and legends like Hasek do their best impression. Look at photos from the Sabres rink, fans made signs that had the famous call handwritten on it. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7VOCzIKqdE[/embed] The fact RJ was able to take a Christmas carol and turn it into a famous goal call for one of the Sabre greats is a testament to his creativity. It was fun, it was genuine, and it lives on in the minds of Sabre legends and their fans. For the record, Pat LaFontaine retired in 1998, when I was two years old; and I know all about him because of Rick Jeanneret. CALL A COP, HE ROBBED HIM Admittedly, this particular call gave me nightmares as a child because, for some reason, Hasek, Ryan Miller and Martin Biron seemed to have the games of their lives every time Buffalo played Toronto. Ryan Miller, in particular, is responsible for umpteen “call a cop, he robbed him” against the Leafs. Every game, there was at least one, probably three or four. What made this call really cool was that it started with Hasek, who is obviously one of the best to ever play the position. Ryan Miller and Martin Biron were good, but not Hasek good, and yet, Rick Jeanneret had convinced a young kid that these guys should be winning Vezina Trophies because of the excitement he would bring to their spectacular saves. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvFQ_KNIINs[/embed] When a commentator can bring that type of excitement to a key moment, such as a big save, it makes the save feel bigger. It becomes part of the moment, and RJ nailed it every time. BACK TO WHERE JIMMY HOFFA IS! I have no idea where he came up with this because no one knows where Jimmy Hoffa is, but it is never not funny. The call came on an overtime-winner by Dave Hannan [https://youtu.be/jaEcRDni9WM] to send the Sabres back to New Jersey for Game 7 in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals. The Meadowlands are, quite literally, in the middle of nowhere. It stands to reason that’s probably where the call came from. Similar to May, Hannan wasn’t a scorer by trade, amassing a modest 114 goals in 841 games. He scored one goal in the Sabres ’94 run, but it was the Hoffa goal. Hannan is synonymous with Jeanneret because the one goal he scored was an OT-winner that elicited one of the funniest calls in hockey history. No one knows where Jimmy Hoffa is, but everyone in hockey knows who he is, thanks to RJ. OUUUUU! WHAT A HIT BY CAMPBELL! This was not a routine call, but my goodness, it is the first call I think of when any big hit is mentioned. Brain Campbell was an offensive defenseman who only registered more than 50 hits in three of his 12 Salary Cap Era years when the NHL started tracking the stat. He registered a total of 512 hits during that time. Thanks to Rick Jeanneret, Campbell owns one of the most famous legal hits in the post-lockout era. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0g6YlJRwaU[/embed] He flattened RJ Umberger, who was much bigger than him, but it certainly didn’t look like it. It is one of those hits where you go, “oooof, I hope that guy is OK.” Then you add the shock that it was Brian Campbell, of all guys, who laid the hit, and you have a recipe for the utter surprise we all heard in RJ’s voice when it happened. Combined across videos, the hit has a more than a million views on YouTube [https://youtu.be/i3Gvfr9GUC0]. I’m willing to bet most of them are to hear the commentary more than they are to see the hit. ANYTHING ROB RAY FIGHT RELATED Rob Ray played 900 games, scored 91 points and accumulated 3,207 PIMs, including 241 fights. He played all but two seasons of his in Buffalo, meaning Jeanneret called 230 of the fights. If anything happens 230 times, there are bound to be some fireworks. Ray was no stranger to firing punches that were more similar to Mike Tyson than a hockey player. Jeanneret pointed that out one evening when Ray polished off one of his many opponents. There was the famous “Coup Des Gras” call, the many “down goes Player X” after getting socked by Ray, and my personal favorite, when a fan decided that attacking the Sabres bench where Rob Ray was standing was in his best interest. Not that I condone anyone’s behavior, but if you climb over the boards and decide to take on the man responsible for the fight strap rule, you’re on your own. Then, there were the 13 fights with Tie Domi. In fact, one night, they had an equipment-flying tilt and decided the appropriate course of action after serving their majors was to fight for a second time. Ray was one of the league’s most feared fighters, and it was a serious privilege that Rick Jeanneret called so many of them because he made it feel like a boxing match broke out in the middle of a hockey game. Fighting has rightfully decreased, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the legendary calls of Jeanneret when Ray dropped the gloves (and the rest of his upper body equipment). Honorable mention: The Buffalo Sabres will win a Stanley Cup one day. They will. I don’t know who will have the pleasure of calling it, but I know one thing: there is no amount of money I wouldn’t pay to hear Rick Jeanneret’s call from heaven when it happens.
